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Haela Brightaxe
| power4e = Dead power | alignment4e = | symbol4e = | dominion4e = | realm4e = | serves4e = | servedby4e = | sphere4e = | domains4e = | worshipers4e = | cleric alignments4e = | channel divinity4e = | holy days4e = | class4e = | refs4e = | power3e = Demigod | alignment3e = Chaotic good | symbol3e = | homeplane3e = Dwarfhome | realm3e = | serves3e = | servedby3e = | portfolio3e = Luck in battle, joy of battle, dwarven warriors | domains3e = Chaos, Dwarf, Good, Luck, War, Zeal | worshipers3e = Barbarians, dwarves, fighters | cleric alignments3e = | favored weapon3e = Flamebolt (greatsword) | holy days3e = | class3e = | refs3e = | power2e = Demigoddess | alignment2e = Chaotic good | symbol2e = Unsheathed sword encircled by a flaming bolt (a two-ended spiral of flame) | homeplane2e = Beastlands/Brux | realm2e = Findar Endar | serves2e = Moradin | servedby2e = | portfolio2e = Luck in battle, patron of dwarves who love to fight and who battle monsters, love of/joy of battle, dwarven monster kills, dwarven fighter adventurers | spheres2e = | worshipers2e = | cleric alignments2e = | holy days2e = | class2e = | refs2e = | power1e = | alignment1e = | symbol1e = | homeplane1e = | realm1e = | serves1e = | servedby1e = | portfolio1e = | worshipers1e = | cleric alignments1e = | holy days1e = | class1e = | refs1e = | rules = }} Haela Brightaxe ( ), also called the Lady of the Fray or the Luckmaiden, was a dwarven goddess of battle and luck. Overview Haela Brightaxe was one in spirit with good-aligned dwarves who loved battle and who lived to cleanse Toril of evil monsters. Haelan clerics fought monsters whenever they could find them, either to destroy the evil beast, or just for the thrill of battle. Haela, as she was a goddess of luck, took great risks in the battles she fought. Followers Haela's clerics were called kaxanar, which could be translated as "bloodmaidens". Most of her clergy were females, but the few men who served her didn't seem to have a problem with the feminine title. Kaxanar cared little for the rules of dwarven society and built their temples wherever conflict was to be found. Temples were regularly built in the cellars of human ruins, abandoned dwarf holds, or even empty gnome warrens. Most temples also served as armories, and all were trapped with at least one very violent bombastic trap so that no temple could fall into enemy hands. Kaxanar were frequently also barbarians, since their rage engendered joyous destruction. Rituals Kaxanar prayed for spells in the morning. During these prayers, they traced the elaborate scars on their forearms that had been ritually carved there upon initiation into the order. Most scars showed geometric patterns, but a few iconoclasts used their initiation to carve profanities or lewdness into their skin. On the day of Greengrass, the Haelans celebrated a ritual called the Time of Spawning. In this ritual, they chanted and shattered captured enemy weapons to prepare for the next onslaught of monsters from occupied dwarven holds. Axe Held High was a high holy day for the followers of Haela. On this day, kaxanar and those allied with them gathered on the surface and claimed to see an image of Haela's greatsword outlined at the center of the sun. The Commemoration of the Fallen was celebrated with the Feast of the Moon, when the kaxanar remembered all dwarves and non-dwarves who fell in defense of Moradin's children. Relationships Most of her companions in the Morndinsamman respected Haela's lively manner. Haela made sure she never acted against the wishes of the other accepted members of the dwarven pantheon, though she accepted only Moradin as her superior. Of her brothers and sisters, she preferred the company of Marthammor Duin and Clangeddin Silverbeard, who respectively shared her interest in the surface and her love for battle. Haela was so focused on the dwarves that she had little time for gods outside her own pantheon. Abbathor, who was always interested in luck, sent ever more dangerous threats to Haela ever since she spurned his interest. Death Haela, along with Gorm Gulthyn, died in battle with the duergar deities Laduguer and Deep Duerra in 1383 DR. The Second Sundering In the wake of the Second Sundering, signs indicating the return of Haela, as well as her duergar enemies, had begun to surface.Kim Mohan ed. (2015). Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 22. ISBN 978-0786965809 Ca. 1486 DR, a party of adventurers witnessed a female voice, with no discernable source, utter a Dwarvish battle cry, while the eyes of a statue dedicated to Haela Brightaxe flashed on their own. This event was seemingly a result of the adventurers showing their respect to the late dwarven goddess within the halls of Firehammer Hold, a temple dedicated to the Lady of the Fray and, at that point, recently conquered by a group of duergar, lead by a durzagon known as Nalifarn.Tito Leati, Matthew Sernett and Chris Sims (February 2014). Scourge of the Sword Coast. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 48-49. Appendix References Connections Category:Females Category:Morndinsamman Category:Chaotic good deities Category:Chaos domain deities Category:Dwarf domain deities Category:Good domain deities Category:Luck domain deities Category:War domain deities Category:Zeal domain deities Category:Demipowers Category:Deities Category:Inhabitants of the Beastlands (plane) Category:Inhabitants of the Outer Planes Category:Inhabitants of the Great Wheel planes Category:Inhabitants of Dwarfhome Category:Inhabitants of the Celestial Planes Category:Inhabitants of the World Tree planes